Club Sports News

New LinkedIn page to connect Liberty hockey players, alumni

May 14, 2020 | Lynchburg, Va.

Building an online community modeled after the one Liberty University Hockey has created on campus over the past 30 years is the goal of former ACHA Division I men's hockey players Ben Hughes ('16, '18) and Mike Morrison ('12, '17). The two alumni, who both earned their MBAs at Liberty, are launching and administering a LinkedIn account that will serve as a landing page for current and former players and staff on the three Flames (Division I, II, and III) men's hockey and two Lady Flames (Division I and II) women's hockey teams.

Mike Morrison ('12, '14) currently works at Merrill Lynch in Lynchburg.

"We are trying to figure out (ways) to keep alumni engaged, through events and stories on where current or former players are, and updates on jobs that they are in," said Morrison, the former Club Sports Director of Internal Operations who now works as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch in Lynchburg. "Ben and I just created this a week or two ago, so it is a new adventure. We want this to be a connection point between athletic alumni and current players to the professional world, providing local connections for jobs and internships in the professional arena."

Hughes, who now serves as the Club Sports Assistant Director of Recruitment & Alumni, is looking into hosting alumni networking events, both on and off campus, as well as through other social media platforms.

"We will be giving current players some career advice and allowing alumni to provide perspective on what they do," said Hughes, who also serves as Head Coach of the Flames' DII men's hockey team. "Any way that we can garner more engagement, and encourage current players and alumni get connected with each other, the better. We want to be helping players out in a professional manner, to connect with each other across different industries."

He said the common ground players have established through hockey at Liberty can overflow into the world around them.

"It is easy, because we know hockey and have connections, to stay in contact and we want to make it more personal, and professional," Hughes said.

Current and former players and coaches can request to join the "Liberty Hockey" LinkedIn group.